Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I wish to share two minutes of my time with my colleague, Senator O'Sullivan, and one minute of my time with Senator Burke. I regret we do not have more time for this debate but I will be brief.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cuffe. I commend the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I am sorry they are leaving Government because the Minister has been excellent, as has the Minister of State, Deputy Cuffe, although he has been only recently appointed.

As a former Minister of State in the then Department of Posts and Telegraphs in 1982 I have a great deal of experience in this particular field. It was a marvellous Department in which to work. We were in charge of postal and telecommunications services. At that time Feargal Quinn, now Senator Quinn, was appointed chairman of the interim board for posts, An Bord Poist. There is a great deal of experience in this House which will be shared during the debate on the Bill.

I have been approached by Jim Higgins of the Communications Workers Union in Roscommon, John Tansey of the CWU national executive, and Pat Compton of the CWU in Roscommon who put important points to most Members of the Oireachtas which I intend to present to the top officials from the Department who are present, although I will not outline the details. The most important point concerns the universal service obligation, USO. They state that the funding of the USO in a liberalised market is a major issue which has not been resolved in this Bill. They state that the legislation suggests a compensation fund which licensed operators will pay into to fund the USO. They state further that it has not worked in any other country. It has also caused many redundancies in other countries. We are transposing a European directive but we have been too active in following the directives to the letter where other countries are far more relaxed in that regard.

The fact that An Post has been designated as the universal service provider for the next seven years and ComReg as the national regulatory authority for postal services in Chapters 4 and 3, respectively, is welcome. When the Commissioner was in Ireland some weeks ago, I made that point to him. He is from a rural area in Germany and is well aware of the position. We must have the same postal services in Dublin 4 and the Aran Islands, with a five-day working week and daily deliveries. There should be a universal service. That is vital.

I commend all those who work for An Post. They do a wonderful job in all weather conditions in delivering the post throughout the country. I was privileged to work with them in the Department and helped and supported them in various developments in my period of office.

This Bill is necessary because it stems from European legislation. I hope on Committee Stage the Minister will listen to the concerns of the CWU which represents workers in the postal service and that we will solve any problems. An Post must be protected at all costs, particularly during these difficult times in employment. We must ensure we maintain the maximum number of jobs in An Post to give people every encouragement and support and not to allow vultures to come into the country to cream off services in Dublin, Waterford, Cork and Limerick, while leaving rural areas isolated. That is vital and as a former Minister, I will fight for this on Committee Stage. I hope the Minister will ensure the Bill will be a monument to his work in the Department, not a millstone around his neck in the future.